EICMA in Milano is one of the big European motorcycle shows. I personally have little interest in modern motorcyles (except for my 1975 R90S, my newest running bike is a 1937 R6), but I visited today mostly on the chance that BMW would display the R7 (no such luck).

I visited EICMA the first year I moved to Milan an swore that I would never do it again. The crowds were oppressive and it was almost impossible to get close to a bike of interest, much less sit on it. Nothing has changed!

BMW had their full stable on display including a few machines that probably are not yet available in the USA. The latest LT offerings are as big as a Smart car! I cannot imagine driving (riding?) such a machine. While they had some great riding exhibitions (trials, et al), it is not worth the hassle to go unless you like the new stuff. It seem that most of the majors have a lot more bikes available in Europe than the USA.

I rather enjoyed looking at the high tech offerings form Colnago, De Rosa, Campagnolo and Shimano (and some velodrome action) in the bicycle section more than the current crop of BMW, Hondas, HDs and Yamahas. The positive side is that it offered a chance try on a lot of current helmets. The lovely hostesses at Nolan were passing out Twix bars!

The only vintage bikes I found were a pair of vintage MV Agusta racers from the 70's.